Harvesting-machine



(ModeL) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1.v

0. M.,YOUNG.

HARVESTING MACHINE.

No. 247,592. Patented Sept. 27,1881.

N PETERS. Pllnlo-Lllhngmplmr. Wnsllmglon. n. c.

(ModeL) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

0'. M. YOUNG. HARVESTING MACHINE.

No. 247,592. Patented Sept. 27,1881.

' W Zheuweax 157F621 a) 4 SheetsSheet 3.

(MedeL) .C.M .YOUNG. HARVESTING MACHINE.

Baham %%w .Patented Sept. 2'7, 1881.

(MotieL) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4. O. M. YOUNG.

HARVESTING MACHINE.

No. 247,592. Petented Sept 2, 7, 1881i tl I I? We 6" g A t i t 2" I *1 1 t t h A g Q 1 g 5 R i i e e t t s l; Q o 3 L y e '5 w 1 e o S J t I H I] 77 iz h/ ewd e6,

UN TED STATES PATENT OFFICE CHARLES M. YOUNG, OF COREY, PENNSYLVANIA.

HARVESTING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 247,592, dated September 27, 1881.

Application filed July 8, 1881.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES M. YOUNG, of Corry, county of Erie, State of Pennsylvania, have inventednew and useful Improvements in Harvesting-Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making'part of this specification, in which Figure l is a perspective view of a harvesting l machine embracing my improvements. Fig. 2 is a plan or top view. Fig. 3 is a side elevation, and Fig. 4 is a rear elevation, of the same; and Figs. 5,6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 are detail views, hereinafter referred to.

My invention relates to a novel means for raising and lowering the cutting apparatus, adapted to automatically lock or hold said'cutting apparatus at any height to which it may be adjusted without the aid of appliances outside oftheadjusting devices themselves; to'the manner of coupling the cutting apparatus to the main or gear frame, whereby, when said cutting apparatusis raised or lowered, the relation of the sicklesections to the guard-fingers remains unchanged; to the arrangement of the rake-drivin g mechanism, in connection with the main drive-wheel axle, whereby it is adapted to accommodate itself to the varying position of the rake mounted upon the adjustable cutter-frame and to certain details of construction and arran gem ent, hereinafter described and explained. I

In the accompanying drawings, A represents the main frame or frame-bar of the machine,

consisting of a stout metal plate or casting set on edge and having a configuration substantially as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, being provided at or near midway of its length with an outwardly-projecting sleeve, A, forming a bearing for the main axle I), mounted and rotating therein, actuated by the carrying and driving wheel B. The frame A, in front of the axle-sleeve, has a depression in it inthe form of an inverted arch, a, or its equivalent, acoommodating the movement of the inner end of the pitman and-the crank wrist or wheel 0, the latter being formed upon or secured to the rear end of a shaft, 0, mounted in a longitudinal sleeve at A formed on the frame bar or plate on its outer face, in front of the depression (ModeL) a. (See Figs. 2 and 3.) The frame-bar A is provided at or near its ends, on its inner side, with pendent bifurcated lugs or cars a a, to which the ends or arms (1 d of an angular loop or bail, D, are pivoted, said loop or bail projectiug laterally on the inner side of the framebar and passing through eyes or perforated lugs on the fin ger-barE, preferably on its lower face and near its forward and rear edges, and about in the same vertical longitudinal plane with the inner shoe of the cutting apparatus; but they may either or both be formedupon or in the shoe itself. The rear one of these lugs or eyes is shown atf, Fig. 4, where itis shown made in one piece with a standard, F, rising above the plane of the finger-bar E, and to the upper end of which is pivoted the outer end of a rod, D, arranged in a horizontal plane-parallel with but above the plane of the bail D, as shown in Fig. 4, its inner end being pivoted in an upwardly-projecting lug, a Fig. 2, on the frame-bar, arranged at or near the same distance above the plane of the crank-shaft c that the lugs a a are below said plane. By this arrangement of the parallel rods or braces D and Drelatively to the pitman, which will thus be about the same length as said rods and occupies with the crank-shaft a position intermediate and near midway between the centers of movement of the braces D and D, it will be seen that as the guard-fingers move in the arc of a circle governed by said braces, when the cutting upparat-us is raised or lowered, the pitman vibrates with them, and the sickle-sections will rise or fall with thefingers moving in about the same are of a circle with them, and so will always maintain their proper working relation thereto under all adjustments in the height of out. 7..

Gr is the pole or tongue of the machine, con- 0 nected near its rear end to the forward end of the frame bar or plate A by a transverse pivot, and provided in rear thereof with a slotted plate, through which a thumb or set screw passesintotheframe-barforholdingthetongue 5 rigidly connected with the frame at any desired angle of adjustment or relation. Upon the upper face of the tongue is a short rod, h, secured thereto by angular flan ges or feet, up-

on which is placed a sliding block,'H, to which IoQ the whiffletrees are secured, and which may be adjusted longitudinally on said rod and held at any desired adjustment by means of a setscrew. To this sliding block is secured the forward end of a flexible brace or draft rod, I, said rod extending from the tongue obliquely to and being secured at its rear end to the inner shoe or to the finger-bar about in the same vertical longitudinal plane with said shoe, as shown in Fig. 2. By the proper adjustment of the forward end of this flexible rod or brace the strain upon the joints of the parallel rods or braces coupling the cutting apparatus to the frame will be greatly relieved.

The finger-bar E is provided with or has formed upon it a heel-extension, E, reaching nearly to the vertical plane of the adjacent face or side of the frame-bar A, and said extension has a slotted standard, J, secured to its inner end, the inner end of the main axle b overhan gin g said extension and passing through the slot in standard J, as shown. Upon said end of the axle is mounted a yoke or double arm, K, perforated to permit the axle to pass through and rotate in it, said yoke being adapted to slide longitudinally and to vibrate on the axle as a center, and within the loop or yoke. Between its arms is a pinion, l,

' which is feathered to and adapted to turn with the axle, while at the same time it is free to slide longitudinally with the yoke thereon. The outer face of the yoke has a grooved collar, it, formed upon it, surrounding the axle, the adjacent vertical walls of the slot in the standard J entering the groove in said collar andpermittinga slidingmovement on the shaft to be imparted to the yoke and the pinion I, as the standard rises and falls in the arc of a circle, controlled by the parallel rods or braces D D, thereby keeping the drivingpinion at a uniform distance from the inner face of the standard and from the rake-standard, mounted upon the finger-beam or the extension thereof, and rising and falling therewith. In the outer swinging end of the yoke K is mounted a second pinion, l, which engages with and is driven by the pinion or gear wheel I, and which engages with and drives a pinion, P, on a secondary shaft, L, mounted in suitable hearings in the slotted standard J and in the rake-stand ard M.

K is a second yoke, similar in form to the yoke K, and pivoted at one end thereto in line with the shaft of pinion Z, and swiveled at its opposite end on shaft L, the arrangement being such that as the cutting apparatus, with the rake attachment, is raised or lowered the pinion 1 slides on its shaft to accommodate itself to the lateral movement of the rake-standard, while the folding link, composed of the yokes KK, accommodates the rising-and-fallin g movement of said standard,while keeping the shaft L, which drives the rake-shaft and maintains a fixed relation thereto, always in gear through the arrangement of pinions or gear-wheels described with the main drivewheel axle.

On the lower face of the finger-bar, in suitable bearings therein, is secured a rock-shaft, N, extending the entire length of said bar, and provided at its ends with crank-arms a and a, the former extendin g back on a line parallel, or nearly so, with the plane of the adjacent outer face of the frame-bar A, and connected by a rod, 0, therewith, the lower end of said rod being connected by an eye-joint with said crankarm, and the upper end in a similar manner with the frame-bar. The outer crank-arm, it, extends backward about the same distance as the arm a, and is provided atits rear end with a stud-sh aft, upon which is mounted the grainwheel P. By this arrangementit will be seen that when the cutting apparatus is raised or lowered the shaft N will be rocked by means of the link 0, connecting the arm a with the main frame, and the arma, on which the grainwheel is mounted, being of the same length as the arm a, the wheel I will be rocked up or down relatively to the cutting apparatus in such manner as to preserve a fixed relation to the main drive-wheel, and will thus be made to adjust the outer end of the cutting apparatus simultaneously with the adjustment of the inner end, and to the same extent, thereby preserving the horizontality of the cutting apparatus.

The means for adjusting the height of the cutting apparatus at its inner end are as follows: Upon the frame-bar A, nearits rear end, is secured a bracket or standard, Q, provided at its upper outer end with alongitiulinally-arranged sleeve, Q, forming a bearing for a short crank-shaft, 1t, and having an enlarged disk on its forward end provided with an internallytoothed flange or rim, Q concentric with shaft R, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9. The shaft R has an eccentric, 0', formed upon it, arranged within the circle of teeth on the flange Q and upon said eccentric is mounted a pinion, s, the teeth of which engage with the toothed rim, causing a rotary motion on the eccentric to be imparted to the pinion as the eccentric carrying it is rotated with the shaft It. The pinion s has four pins, 8, on its forward face, which enter radial grooves t on the rear face of the chain sheave or pulley T, which is mounted on the forward end of shaft R, and from which the lifting cord or chain extends to and is connected-in any suitable manner with the heel-extension of the finger-bar. The sheave or pulley T is loose upon its shaft, and has a rotary movement, in an opposite direction to that of the shaft, imparted to it by the movement of the pins s in the radial grooves t, and their successive action upon the walls of said grooves due to the rotary and eccentric move ment of the pinion s. As the sh aft Ris rotated by means of a crank, R or hand-wheel carryin g the eccentric r with it, the pinion is caused to travel around within the tooth-rim Q and its teeth engaging therewith, it is made to rotate in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the shaft, and, through the pins and grooves connecting it with the spool or IIO sheave, a steady movement in the same direction with it is imparted to said sheave for causing it to wrap or unwrap the cord or chain for raising or lowering the cutting apparatus but when the power for actuating said shaft is removed the weight of the cutting apparatus, actin g upon the sheave through the chain, causes the sidewalls of the grooves, acting on the pin on the pinion s, to wedge the latter tightly against the internally-toothed rim,preventing rotation of the parts, and so locking the cutting apparatus at any point to which it maybe adjusted. The lifting sheave or pulley, it will be seen, is not only madeio rotate in an opposite direction to the shaft, but its speed is reduced to one-fourth, or thereabouts,as compared therewith, so that four or more revolutions of the crankshaft are required to produce one of the lifting-sheave,thereby giving greatly increased power for raising the cutting apparatus. By this arrangement of lifting mechanism the cutting apparatus may be adjusted to any desired height, and it will be there held by the adj usting devices themselves without attention on the part of the attendant, and without the interposition of any extraneous holding devices.

The secondary shaft L, through which the rake-shaft U, carrying the rake and reel arms, is driven, is provided on its outer end with a bevel-wheel, u. engaging with and actuating a bevel-wheel, a, mounted loosely on the vertical rake-shaft. This wheel has a flange or rim on its upper face, provided on its inner face with a series or circle of teeth, a acting as ratchets, (see Fig. 5,) and upon the shaft U, above the wheel a, is a collar, V, keyed to the shaft and provided on its lower face within the toothed rim a? with a pivoted latch orpawlm, which is held in engagement with the teeth a by means of a springm for coupling the wheel a to the rake and reel shafts and causing it to actuate the latter. The disk or collar Vis perforated just outside the shank of pawl 0, to form a bearing for a short rock-shaft, w, provided on its inner end with a crank arm or cam, w, and on its outer end with a leverarm, w by means of which the pawl 12 can be thrown outof engagement with the ratcheted rim of wheel a, leaving the latter free to rotate on the rake'shaftU withontactuating it. By this arrangement the rake can be thrown out of action, when desired, for moving the machine from place to place, orfor turning corners, while its driving mechanism and that of the cutters remain in action.

The rake and reel, with other parts of the machine not particularly described, may be of any usual or preferred construction and arrangement.

Having now described my invention, I claim- 1. A rake mechanism made adjustable with the cutting apparatus of a harvestin g-machine, in combination with a slotted standard connecting said cutting apparatus with a rakedriving gear sliding on its actuating-shaft.

2. The cutting apparatus connected with the main frame by hinged braces, adapting it to rise and fall in a curved path, and provided with a slotted standard connecting it with a rake-driving gear sliding on the main drivewheel axle, in combination with a rake mechanism connected to and made adjustable with the cutting apparatus.

3. The combination, with the main frame and drive-wheel axle, of an adjustable cutting apparatus or frame, a rake mechanism connected to and made adjustable therewith,arake-driving gear sliding on the main axle, and a slotted standard connecting thecutter-frame with said gear for maintaining it in proper working relation to the rake mechanism.

4. The combination,with the main frame and adjustable cutting apparatus of a harvestingmachine, of the crank-shaft on which the chainsheave forraising and lowering the cutting apparatus is mounted, and the'eccentrio toothed rim and pinion, with its pins entering radial grooves in the chain-sheave for actuating the same, all arranged and operating substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. The sliding gear wheel or pinion on the main drive-wheel axle,in'combination with the swivelingyokes, one on the axle and the other on the rake-driving shaft mounted upon the inner end of the adjustable cutting apparatus, and the interposed gears connecting said shaft with the axle, arranged and operating sub stantially as described.

6. The slotted standard on the inner end of the finger-bar, in combination with the sliding yoke and rake-driving gear on the inner end of the axle, arranged and operating substantially as. described. 4

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 1st day of July, A. D. 1881.

O. M. YOUNG.

Witnesses:

G. G. USHER, J. R. CARROLL. 

